For the past three years, the Odessa Police Department responded to five failure to stop and render calls aid involving death.
There were two in 2017 and 2018, while there has been one through the first five and a half months of 2019.
OPD spokesperson Cpl. Steve LeSueur said it’s important that if a person is involved in a collision that each party stop. If someone leaves the scene, LeSueur advised people to get license plate number or description of the driver. He added that if there is a serious injury to call emergency services.
“The best thing that you can do is become the best witness possible,” LeSueur said. “Get as much information as you can and rely that back to 911 or police officers or first officer that arrives on scene.”
The most recent failure to stop and render aid involving death happened at 9:57 p.m. June 5 near the intersection of University Boulevard and Bonham Avenue, a previous Odessa American article said.
Felix John Jaramillo, 48, died in a fatal three-vehicle collision on his 2005 Harley Davidson motorcycle, the article stated. Four days after he died, his family started a GoFundMe campaign to help cover household expenses.
Jose Angel Ramirez, 46, was arrested and charged June 6 with failure to stop and render aid involving death, a second-degree felony, and criminal negligent homicide, a state jail felony, the article said.
Ramirez was driving a 2013 Ford F-350 west on University Boulevard, the article detailed.
Kolby Ray Tavarez, 18, of Odessa was driving a 2014 Dodge Challenger west on University Boulevard behind the F-350. Jaramillo was driving the motorcycle east on University Boulevard.
The F-350 reportedly failed to yield the right of way while turning left onto Bonham Avenue and collided with the motorcycle, causing it to skid into the Challenger. Ramirez failed to stop and render aid and left the scene. Jaramillo was transported to Medical Center Hospital and was later pronounced dead by medical personnel.
The GoFundMe campaign was started on June 9, and as of Friday afternoon, it had collected $2,468 of its $20,000 goal. Jaramillo was reportedly the sole provider for his family. Attempts to contact the campaign organizer weren’t returned to the Odessa American.
LeSueur detailed in an email the four other failure to stop and render involving death happened at 42nd Street and Clover Avenue on Sept. 30, 2017; 42nd Street and Grandview Avenue on Oct. 14, 2017, in the 700 block of West Eighth Street on March 24, 2018; and Ninth Street and West County Road on Sept. 28, 2018.
LeSueur said it’s important that citizens of Odessa take care of one another.
“We can’t make the decision for them and they’ve already made up their mind if they are going to stay on scene or not,” he said. “We can react to the situation and how we handle it. Our biggest priority is preserving life. It’s not just police, but all first responders.
“We never give up on these cases, especially the ones that are real serious that involve serious injuries or death.”
